INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organization, with 190 member countries. Our role is to enable police around the world to work together to make the world a safer place. Our high-tech infrastructure of technical and operational support helps meet the growing challenges of fighting crime in the 21st century.

This is where you will find the latest news and multimedia from INTERPOL. Read our news stories and speeches; see the Organization in action through videos and photo galleries; and download our fact sheets, brochures and annual reports.

Our global police communications channels and internationally recognized alert systems allow police around the world to share data instantly and securely. A 24-hour contact point and specialized teams provide targeted support to serious crime or disaster incidents.

Europe

Germany

Germany

German law enforcement services are provided by a combination of different forces which have either state, national or international mandates.

State police forces: Landespolizei

Germany is a Federal Republic made up of 16 states. Each state is responsible for its own policing matters and has its own state Police, called “Landespolizei”.

Nationwide police : Bundespolizei (BPOL)

With 40,000 employees – more than 30,000 of them fully trained police officers – BPOL is a country-wide operational police force responsible for domestic security. As part of Germany’s Ministry of Interior, it is Germany’s uniformed police responsible for:

Border security – including passport control;

Coast guard services, which comprise the surveillance of land borders and national sea-borders;

Protection of federal buildings and foreign embassies;

Reserve forces to deal with demonstrations, disturbances or emergencies;

Transportation and passenger security at international airports and on German railways;

Rescue helicopter service.

International policing: INTERPOL Wiesbaden

The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) – which acts as the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) for Germany – is Germany’s central agency for police information and communication. It provides support to all Federal police forces and coordinates national crime suppression activities. It also serves as the German Criminal Investigations Department.

As part of the Ministry of Interior, the BKA is called upon by German Police forces – including Landespolizei – when criminal investigations take on an international dimension. Through its operations and coordination center, a 24-hour service center known as the “Kriminaldauerdienst”, the BKA is able to take immediate action when investigations, searches and international communications require it.

The BKA has the jurisdiction to conduct investigations relating to:

International trafficking in weapons, ammunition, explosives or drugs;

Internationally organized production or exchange of counterfeit currency;

Internationally organized money laundering;

Internationally organized terrorism;

Serious cases of computer sabotage.

Responsible for all serious crime investigations, the BKA also helps its national law enforcement partners in:

Forensic identification and sciences;

Research and criminal analysis;

Criminology and criminal investigation;

Researching and developing new police methods;

Developing new working methods aimed at suppressing crime.

With offices in Wiesbaden, Berlin and Meckenheim, the BKA employs more than 5,500 men and women. With their specialized knowledge and expertise in the fields of criminal sciences, information technology and administration, they cover a broad spectrum of activity. Approximately half of them are fully trained criminal police officers. The others come from more than 70 different occupational groups.

LYON, France – A convicted rapist wanted by Switzerland has been arrested in Poland the day after an INTERPOL Red Notice, or international wanted persons alert, was issued to help identify and locate the fugitive.Fabrice Anthamatten was taken into custody near the Polish/German border on Sunday 15 September following close coordination between the INTERPO...

LYON, France – The suspected mastermind behind a global car smuggling ring, estimated to have trafficked luxury and sports vehicles worth around EUR 6 million since 2009, has been arrested following an INTERPOL-coordinated operation.The Russian national was taken into custody in Venice, Italy following INTERPOL’s Operation Eastbound which coordinated the...

LYON, France ‒ The arrest in Germany of Luka Rocco Magnotta, a Canadian national suspected of murder and the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice for internationally-wanted persons, highlights the essential role of international police cooperation and sharing intelligence in fugitive investigations, a senior INTERPOL official has said.At the request of Canad...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – An INTERPOL operation targeting 207 internationally-wanted fugitives wanted for serious crimes including murder, kidnapping, organized crime and child sexual abuse believed to be hiding in South America has led to arrests across the continent and new investigative leads established for almost a quarter.Investigative leads develop...

LYON, France – The head of INTERPOL has praised police authorities in Germany and Ukraine for their ‘exemplary international collaboration’ in a recent operation in which a stolen Caravaggio painting was recovered and an alleged international art theft gang broken up with more than 20 suspects arrested. Led by Germany’s Federal Police, the Bundeskriminala...

An international week of action targeting the online sale of counterfeit and illicit medicines has resulted in a series of arrests and the seizure of thousands of potentially harmful medical products.In response to an ever-increasing number of websites supplying dangerous and illegal medicines, Operation Pangea II involving 24 countries was co-ordinated b...

The first international Internet day of action co-ordinated by the Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime, INTERPOL and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT), targeting the illegal online sale of medicines to the public has resulted in a series of arrests and the seizure...

LYON, France – A fugitive Kazakh national wanted in his country for murder and subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice, or international wanted persons’ notice, has been arrested in Austria following an international operation across seven countries co-ordinated via INTERPOL.Asanali Zhekebayev, aged 33, who is wanted in Kazakhstan following his conviction there...

A check against INTERPOL’s wanted persons databases by German border police at Frankfurt airport resulted in the arrest of a man wanted in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide.Callixte Mbarushimana is the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice, or international wanted persons notice, issued at the request of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Kig...